Articles 
I wandered up to St James and entered its rather quiet main entrance with desk, manned by a receptionist and accompanied by a club official in shirt and tie passing on his thanks to a couple of visitors and escorting them to their car. How courteous I thought, a good example of the new, friendly and open policy that the club was now adopting towards its customers.
Up the stairs and into the corridor leading to the Chairmans Suite; one of the executive rooms just off the main corridor leading towards the "royal box"; the posh seats where only the rich and famous get to watch the match; seated on leather and with a complimentary club blanket in winter no doubt.
Still quiet I thought, did I have the right floor? the right room or even the right night? I opened the door and was immediately confronted by a mass of expectant faces, all staring at me as I looked around for an empty seat. Weird, I thought. Then, as I scanned the room for a friendly face I realised the reason for the vacant stares; its wasn't me they were looking at but the diminutive chap in the suit and open necked shirt sitting directly in front of me, facing the assembled gathering; Nar, can't be; surely not. A quick double take and rub of the old eyes however confirmed it; Derek Llambias, one of the villains of the south; here to face out his fiercest critics; the fans; the collected gathering of Gallowgates' finest.No sooner had I found myself a seat and we were off; ten minutes earlier than scheduled and, judging by the blitzed buffet table, not before time.
So, Derek had finally come good and was attending a fans liaison committee meeting for the first time since taking up the post of Chief Exec. Joined by David Williamson, (Operations Director), Simon Esland (who did the official intros) and the poor man with the hardest job at SJP; the man who puts up all the good news and thoughts of the club on their official website. A job that became a 24/7 post when JFK joined the club and he had to decipher his mutterings; remove the expletives to make it family friendly and still make it sound rational and from a sound mind.Oh yes; and two guys from Thomson House, the guys responsible for the scoop of the season; Dereks first public utterances.DL commenced by apologising for the poor communication and stated that it was a conscious decision by the club to just keep a low profile and get on with the job at hand; he accepted that in hindsight this was a poor decision and that they underestimated the feeling among the fans; the backlash and the strength of the continuous and uninterrupted protest towards them.
DL; we can't talk about KK tonight because we are in legal dispute with him which should be sorted soon.DL; on how JFK was and whether he will he return as manager. DL saw no problems on that score; JFK was doing well was constantly in contact with all members of the playing and coaching staff by text. They all love Joe, and want him to return as soon as he is well enough to.
When pressed about the club following the Arsenal model DL became rather defensive and explained that it was more their policy of having a strong youth system and building the club from such a base that they admired, not their business model but their football model. When pressed again, this time about the Aston Villa quote picked up from the Thomson House interviews DL was more defensive, claiming he was misquoted and requesting that the two press boys confirm this. After much rubbing of backside on leather, they did admit that there seemed to be an element of misquote (I knew there was a reason why they were there). DL immediately jumped, in saying he admired where Villa were and what they were achieving and it was great and he aspired for us to do the same sometime soon. Those assembled reminded him that we did that often in the past under KK and SBR. This certainly woke up those in minor slumber. Some comments about the London press, Kinnear and his personality and how they can't wait for him to return, followed.
We were also informed about club turnover, the budget of 10m for the academy (spent 5m) so far, the possible new French academy being planned, the world wide scouting system being set up with 20 scouts working to unearth new talent.
Among his pronouncements during this period were comments about certain first team players, the fact that we still owe 38m on transfer fees, (some on players no longer at the club) and this won't be cleared until 2011; that revenue on food and merchandise sales was down, turnover was expected to fall next season because it was expected to fall at all clubs; that there was no apparent boycott of attendance and that attendances were in line with expectations and similar overall to last season("you can see the figures if you don't believe me") the reduction in season ticket prices would cost 1.7m; MA has put in 30m year 1, 20m year 2 and hopes to put in 5-10m year 3. This is Mikes own money. When pressed about debt and statements that contradicted previous statements DL became extremely annoyed about the semantics of "debt" and stated his desire for us to start talking about MA buying the club for 244m rather than 134m if it would make it easier for us to "understand" and not get hung up on.
Things were starting to heat up now and when the matter of transfer policy was returned to and specifically DWs role at the club someone asked, who bought Xisco; KK came the immediate reply. Gonzalez; ah, that's a difficult one, move on. Pressed again about DW, DL reiterated his undying love support for the little man, the work he was doing and the fact that he had an office at Benton. Obviously riled, DL mentioned Bassong as a Wise signing; in so much that he completed the deal asking who we thought had been our best player so far this season and answering Bassong, along with most of the gathered group; and the second best, waiting for us to spout back Jonas or Coloccini; GIVEN, responded the lad who he had been at loggerheads at with earlier concerning the debt.
This got us straight into transfer policy; nice one. Given, city offered 3m; we valued him at 15m but because his head had been turned by the chance of winning something at City there was no possibility of keeping him (MA even flew up by helicopter and offered him a five year deal). We settled for 5.9m for the best goalkeeper in the premiership, a loyal servant of over 11 years. We get the money in July. Suggest you try and slot the word competence somewhere in this statement and see if it fits well; on second thoughts don't bother; it doesn't.
Our policy is to pay cash; MA lashed out 12.5m cash for Coloccini (later identified when pushed, as our wow signing, thanks to the continued probing by a guy who was obviously talking about a wow replacement for Owen); yet sold Milner on the "never never" to a club he admires; Paid cash for Nolan and Taylor, no mention of N'Zogbia (once gone best forgotten perhaps!) So, we pay cash, sell for credit and wonder why we are cash starved mid season and relying on handouts from the owner. A strange business model and one that I have never come across that has brought success; unless it's a cash rich turnover business, like a casino perhaps!
Conversation passed on to the work of this liaison committee and the role it could play in getting the message out; this non elected, non accountable and unrepresentative group of individuals; supporters all and very few, other than those from the disabled supporters group and NUSC reporting back to any form of supporters body. Someone suggested they should all be photographed and have a piece in the match day programme. This was frowned upon by many because it was feared they might get recognised and asked questions. Don't get me wrong, they're all decent loyal supporters. It's the system that creates an unbalanced vibe if they're asked to work on behalf of the club as spokespersons or representatives.
Other issues raised included, the reduced season ticket prices for 2009/10, the lack of any loyalty payment for those who have paid three years in advance and now find that the saving is no more than being given to other season ticket holders who didn't lash out in advance. The response was, they're no worse off. Similarly was raised the question of DD payers not getting any VAT refund on their 2009/10 ticket when payment starts to be taken in February; administratively too expensive to implement came the reply.
It was around this time that DL suddenly sussed out that most of those asking the probing questions that he was getting tetchy about were there representing NUSC. Confronting them; he immediately rounded on the a fact that they charged a membership fee and demanded to know why; what their members got for it and demand they answer the question; forgetting of course that you pay 35 to be a member of his club solely to gain a queue jumpers pass for those few games that sell out; games where the tickets cost 45; the A games. The membership issue was answered with gusto by the NUSC member who himself questioned DL on why he was rounding on a loyal supporter of 40 years plus attendance if not to score points. He demanded NUSC open their books; show where the money was going, what it was being spent on; questioned why it needed money. The NUSC representative responded by confirming that it's in their statute that the books will be available for members to inspect and that they are totally transparent. When invited to meet with NUSC and its membership at any of his open meetings he rounded on the disgraceful letter they had sent to MA back in October; questioned why the website hadn't been updated to remove statements concerning Ashley Out; condemned the flyer distributed by the supporters before the Blackburn as a further disgrace, yelling that they encourage people to boycott games and merchandising. Rattled or what?
Things came to an abrupt end at this point; it was near 8 o clock and quite frankly although I was amazed how quickly the time had flown; it was probably best for all concerned that it ended when it did. Simon Esland brought the meeting to a close, thanked everyone for attending and impromptu conversations between those in attendance were struck up as the parties gradually filtered out into the cold damp evening. DL did return I believe, to ask the NUSC reps to start printing positive stuff about the meeting and the club and asked for them to "call off" their boycott. Asked to reciprocate and attend further meetings arranged by NUSC his response was that at this stage this is the only formal meeting arrangement that the club will enter into at this time with supporters.
I am sure there are aspects of the meeting that I have failed to pick up on either through forgetfulness, the lack of a totally comprehensive knowledge of shorthand or because the amount of discussion within such a short period was so considerable. However, I hope that it gives a decent flavour of how this meeting went. I am sure there are other attendees either through forums, on the official club site or via Newcastle United Supporters Club who can and will, fill the gaps.
